Horseshoe Patches
During the Saturday night campfire, numerous patches are handed to campers in recognition of their accomplishments in camp that week. Scouts wear these Horseshoe patches on the right breast pocket of their uniform. Scouts who have been to Horseshoe many years will develop several rings of segments. Horseshoe Patch All adult leaders and first year scouts are given the circular Camp Horseshoe patch bearing the camp's seal (as seen to the left). The patch is the center around which the other patches are placed. The patch has changed occasionally over the years but the basic design generally stays the same. On special anniversaries of scouting or of Camp Horseshoe, a special commemorative patch may be used instead. Year Patch During the campfire, scouts are called down and recognized according the number of years in which they have attended camp. They are given a segment patch for the current year they have spent in camp. Adults and first year scouts receive theirs with the circular camp patch but other scouts receive just the year segment. The segment has a red border with red numbers of the year, over a white field. Polar Bear Any scout who woke up early to jump in the pool at least five out of six mornings will receive the polar bear segment. Naturally, the image is that of a bear in white with a white border over a light blue field. During the year of the flood in 2006, was the camp's swimming pool was unusable for the entire week due to the harsh weather conditions. Scouts in camp that year received a custom Paoli 1 segment mimicking the polar bear segment but with a tidal wave instead. Both the tidal wave and polar bear patches are shaped differently than most other segments, being slightly taller and appearing more square than rectangular. year of the flood.jpg|The Year Of The Flood Commemorative Patch|linktext=The Year Of The Flood Commemorative Patch polar bear.jpg|Polar Bear Patch Special Interest Program Patches Any scout that participates in a Special Interest Program for at least four of the five days will receive a segment as well. The color scheme is the same as the year patch (with nature SIP being an exception with green on yellow) with a small image to represent the particular SIP. Trail Patches There are four trails circling around camp. They are the Red, Yellow, Blue, and Nature trails. The colored trails all have an image of a knot and border in the color of that particular trail. The Nature trail segment used to depict a set of silver boots with a silver border, but in 2009 it was changed to the same knot image as the other trails but in green. 100% Patrol This patch has become fairly common in Paoli 1 but it is one of the rarer patches amongst many other troops. 100% patrol is given to all the members of a patrol that had 100% of its members in camp that week. It is a yellow patch with "100% Patrol" written over a white field. The patch is approximately three times the size of a typical segment. Other Mile Swim - On Saturday morning, the Aquatics Staff offers all scouts and leaders the chance to participate in the mile swim. Without stopping to stand on the bottom or hang off the side wall, a swimmer must complete 18 laps (36 lengths) of the Olympic sized 50 meter long pool to earn this rare patch. Although there is obviously an intense physical requirement, there is no time limit to this challenge so swimmers can go at their own speed. There is also no required style or stroke that swimmers must use. OA Pageant - On Saturday evening, scouts who are in the Order of the Arrow may volunteer for that night's pageant at the campfire. Scouts practice most of the day and then preform that night. A scout who participates in the pageant will receive a red on white segment depicting a feather. COPE, Boating, and Biking - These three programs are offered for senior scouts interested more in fun than in earning badges. Scouts who complete the program will instead earn a segment patch similar to an SIP patch representing their participation. Turtle Derby - On Friday after dinner, Horseshoe has its race for the turtles gathered by the troops. The winner of the Turtle Derby receives a green segment depicting a turtle. Wearing the Patches The circular camp patch is to be worn dead-center on the right breast pocket of the uniform shirt. All other patches are to be put in a ring around this central patch. There is no set standard for how the patches are to be arranged but there are suggested guidelines. 1) Keep the years together - Whenever possible, keep all patches earned from one year at camp in a line rather than separated and mixed into other years. Keeping them together better represents the scout's accomplishment and also appears more orderly 2) Start with the year - Going off of the first suggestion, it is easiest to keep a year together by leading with the year segment itself. Then the next year segment will indicate the end of that set of segments and the beginning of a new year. 3) Polar Bear second - The reasoning for this is more for group uniformity than anything else. Just about every single scout in camp will earn their polar bear segment while only a handful will receive other varying segments. Therefore, many scout uniforms will mostly consist of year followed by polar bear and then it will repeat in that pattern. Scouts with many segments should mimic the year/polar bear start to fall in line with the unofficial order. 4) SIP and Trails - Following polar bear it is advised to put SIP patches and then trail patches in that order. Trails should also be ordered in the way they are listed above and referred to in camp (i.e. Red, Yellow, Blue, Nature). 5) 100% Patrol to the End - This is a massive patch that is best stuck on the end. Otherwise its length can tend to break-up a year with a large gap. When tagged to the end of a year it is a perfect lead in to the next year. 6) If nothing else, keep like patches apart - Other than the basic year segment, one should never have like patches next to each other. A scout can only earn one patch of each type per year anyway so if following the first guideline this should never be an issue. One should never have three "100% Patrol"s or four "Red Trails" in a row. Information on other patches can be found here. Category:Uniform Category:Horseshoe Category:Horseshoe Award